Hot stuff!

This lovely photo is of my pepper plant this year! Believe it or not, due to the amazingly warm sunny Washington summer, I have more peppers than I know what to do with! I bough a little plant at Fred Meyer for $1.50 and have since gotten about 30 beautiful red pimento peppers off of it. We've made salsa, roasted peppers to save for later and I just picked another 7 peppers the other day. Now I'm in need of more ideas. When you google pimento recipes, the main thing that comes up is a Southern food call pimento cheese... I'm not so sure about that though may give it a try. I must say that I love my garden and the vegetables it keeps giving me! Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, carrots... and I'm hoping for round 2 of lettuce this fall. What a blessing to be able to just walk out to the garden and harvest a variety of foods.

We love the Olympic Peninsula!

Last week, we had a few days off and we decided to take advantage of it! We went over to the Olympic Peninsula where we camped for 3 nights, enjoyed a quiet slower pace, and breathed some fresh air.

We camped at beautiful Lake Crescent at the Fairholme campground. The lake is amazing! It is about 12 miles long of crystal clear, blue green water. We had been there once before when we took our motorcycle on a day trip and fell in love with the area. There is something so peaceful about the forested hills and the lake. We had a campsite tucked back in the trees with glimpses of the lake.

We went one day out to Second Beach at La Push where we watched the waves crash and admired the seastacks off shore. For awhile we were the only ones at the beach (probably because it was raining earlier in the day) and we meandered down the beach dodging waves, and chasing silly birds. The birds were scared of us but because of their webbed feet, they would trip and stumble all the way back to the water. No, we were not torturing birds... just experimenting a bit!

After La Push, we did stop by Forks. To be perfectly clear though, we did not do a Twilight tour, visit the store Dazzled by Twilight or do anything Twilight related. The entire town is like a big advertisement for the movie though. We went into the grocery store to get a few supplies and even saw some Twilight boots... Chet was very tempted to get a pair but I held him back! Oh, and back along the road to La Push, one store had a sign out front that said "No Vampires Beyond this Point" in reference to the movie.

The following day, we headed up to the Sol Duc valley. Our intention on this trip was not to do strenuous hikes but to relax and enjoy spending some time together... so we went on a weaving hike through the forest and sat in some hot springs. The hike was named Lover's Lane, probably because it is a beautiful hike weaving through forest, ferns and along a rushing river. It ends up connecting with Sol Duc Falls which is actually a pretty cool waterfall. A crevasse in the rocks drops about 100-200 feet and the water come shooting out in three places to form the waterfall. After hiking, we enjoyed sitting in the mineral spring pools, alternating between the pools because the water was SO hot! It turned out to be a nice day.

After eating and relaxing all week, we decided to eat at a restaurant on the way home that Pastor Bill recommended that serves huge burgers! I don't think that we needed the calories but the food was amazing and the atmosphere wsa totally unique. The place should totally be on "Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives" on Food Network... it is just that kind of place! The burgers have two patties, three buns, a slice of bacon, and then all the toppings to go with it. They barely would fit in our mouths! Good food made better by interesting surroundings. The folks who run it are quite characters and there are dollar bills and business cards pinned to the ceiling and walls from people who have eaten there! Here are a couple pictures... in case you want to visit it is Fat Smitty's in Discovery Bay on the Peninsula. We recommend it!

The trip was relaxing and a good opportunity to get away from normal life. Neither one of us wanted to come back as we know that, with the start of school this fall, life is bound to get crazy and chaotic again. Yet, to everything there is a season and each season of life has something to offer and enjoy.

Long time without blogging...

It has been a busy summer between work and school. No excuse but it just has been a bit chaotic! Luckily, we are headed toward a little bit slower month where we will hopefully get to go camping, go to Montana and just spend time enjoying this beautiful (hot) summer we have had. Here are some photos of our yard which shows the effects of the hot weather... dead grass as well as lovely vegetables and flowers!

Our wall and flower bed that Chet built!

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A hydrangea in our yard.

Yummy vegetables from the garden

Florida Vacation!

Last week, we went on vacation down to Florida. It was a cheaper vacation because it was associated with a timeshare spiel, so needless to say, there were some interesting parts to the vacation (some less than ideal like the hotel rooms) but we had such a good time just being together and seeing new things! Neither of us had been down to Florida before and so it was a whole new experience. We both agreed that we would never move there but it was fun to visit. Also, it was fun to leave the 40 degree weather behind in Washington and spend week in the sun!

When we got down there, we spent about 3 nights in Fort Lauderdale. It only rained the first day and then it was nice and sunny the rest of the time. We spent time on the beach prior to going to the timeshare deal (which they say will last 2 hours and turned in to lasting 4-5 hours... it was exhausting!). It started raining right after we visited the beach... as you can tell by the stormy clouds in the sky...

Fort Lauderdale Beach

Chet on the beach

Us on vacation!

On Sunday, we went to church and then spent the afternoon sunbathing. On our way to the hotel the first night, we passed by this amazing looking Presbyterian church. Based on the appearance of the church, for lack of other deciding factors, we decided to check it out. Apparently, once we got home, a friend of ours said that it is actually a famous church and the founding pastor was an advisor to some of the Republican presidents. The church had two services, traditional and contemporary. We went to the traditional where they had a huge pipe organ, choir and an enormous sanctuary. The service was actually quite good as well and we enjoyed it, despite it being so different than All Saints! Here is a picture of the outside!

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

We went to the beach that afternoon and just relaxed. It was so nice to be warm in the sand. Unfortunately, we both discovered that we had "sunscreen application errors" that night! We were trying to be so careful with putting on sunscreen but apparently we missed a few spots or didn't get thick enough coverage. It made for some funny moments discovering where we missed with the sunscreen. It was worth it though! We aren't quite as white as we were when we went down there! We also ate at some really good restaurants while we were down there. We are always determined to avoid eating at places we could eat at up here in Washington. Chet loved the BBQ place (so good!) and we both enjoyed the view at Aruba, a place right on the beach.

Aruba on the beach...

Sunday sunbathing

BBQ Jack's... YUM!

Another fun thing we did was an airboat tour in the Everglades! We got to see alligators (up close!), vultures, a huge iguana, and lots of other types of birds we don't remember. The airboats were fun to ride in as they don't sit very deep in the water and can go easily through the shallow water of the Everglades. It is such a unique ecosystem so learn about and see. Definitely a highlight of both of our trips! Below are pictures of our friends the alligators and some of what we saw!

Our airboat

A view of the Everglades...

Alligator up close!

Alligator again.

Us on the tour...

Then we went on our mini-cruise! It was a brief cruise to spend a day down in Nassau, Bahamas... basically, one night down, 8-10 hours in the Bahamas and then one night back. It wasn't the newest boat but we enjoyed ourselves. The entertainment was a little bit cheesy as well but the time in the Bahamas was worth it. We had an outside berth, which was nice to see the sunrise in the morning! The little bathroom and shower were kind of like being in a camper. :) One night, we just went up on the deck and watched the stars as we cruised along... which was so relaxing. When we were down in the Bahamas, we went snorkeling (very fun!) and then went to a resort and enjoyed their restaurant and beach. The sand in the Bahamas is so light and fine... it felt cool despite the warm sunshine. The water is also the most brilliant color... just amazing! Definitely a place we'd like to go back someday.

On the cruise deck...

Chet ready for snorkeling!

Snorkeling in the Bahamas!

View of the water...

Sand and water...

What a beautiful place!

Back in our berth waiting for dinner...

After we got back from the cruise, we headed up the coast toward Orlando for the last couple days. On our way, we stopped at the Kennedy Space Center. If you are ever in Florida, go there! It is amazing, even for us who are not big space nerds! We loved the tour there and seeing where things are put together and the long path out to the launch pad. The history about the Apollo missions and moon landings was impressive... the Saturn V was so huge! We learned a lot and saw amazing parts of history. The whole center is very well done and interesting while very informative. They actually let you come back another day with the purchase of your ticket because there is so much to see! When we were in Orlando, we spent our day at Universal Studios Orlando (we had gotten free tickets for it so Walt Disney World will have to wait till we have kids). It was fun and cool to experience together. Here are some pictures from those activities...

The engines of the Saturn V

Two cleats of crawler that takes the rocket to the launch pad.

View of the Saturn V... so big!

Us in front of the rocket garden...

Universal Studios!

Blues Brothers Show

We had a fun day...

After all that fun, we are back to normal life now. As I write this, it is snowing outside... what a glorious April Fool's Day joke! Nope, no sun for us. It was so nice to have a spring break and enjoy some sunshine... and most of all, spend time together! It is fun to make some of these trips before we have kids and enjoy the experience of traveling together and exploring new places!

Owings' Family Visit

This last weekend, we had a wonderful group of visitors... all of Chet's family! His parents, brother, sister-in-law and their son came out for a visit and for Chet's brother, Glenn, to go to the Black Label Society concert with Chet. It was nice to have everyone out here for a change and, hopefully, it was a relaxing weekend. :) Brianne was in the middle of finals week and Glenn had just finished his midterms so there were some tired people but that, probably, helped to keep the weekend more relaxed. Below are some photos from their weekend out here. Most of them are of Logan, our nephew, as well as our friend's baby, Maia! The babies "played together" one night.

Maia and Logan sharing surgical tubing!

What Aunt Brianne? Another photo?"

Too cute!

Glenn, Liz and Logan

Happy baby!

Snowboarding in March...

We finally had a chance to go snowboarding together! Yay! It has been awhile due to schedules and the snow quality. The snow has been, well let's just say, not quite up to par for parts of the season... but this last week we got some wonderful spring snow! So, today we headed up and enjoyed some powder (and sunshine)! For the first time, we actually brought up our camera and took some pictures! The sky was just so blue against the snow that we figured it would make for some impressive photos. Because of the sun we got our first sunburns of the year as well! We forgot to take a picture of our red faces at the end of the day...

As for the rest of life, we have had quite a bit going on with finals approaching for Brianne, lots of meetings on church matters for Chet, along with work and other normal life activities. Chet's parents, brother, sister-in-law and their son are all headed out next weekend to visit. It should be a busy, but fun time.

End of February... what?

Oh my goodness... the last two months have flown by! I feel like 2009 has just begun and now it is already nearly spring. I guess it is just another sign that it has been busy. Time flies when you are having fun.

Chet and I have just been busy with school, work and trying to see one another. I moved to the day shift in January and not there are some days we work completely opposite shifts. Though I feel more normal being on a more consistent daytime schedule, sometimes he is quite sad that I go to bed before midnight!

School has been going well... clinicals have provided a great deal of learning! One of the best things about clinicals is getting to have "family dinner" every week at my mom and dad's house! Since it is so close, Mom makes yummy homecooked meals each week for her loving family. I love just sitting around the table having good conversation.

One of the biggest changes in the last month is that Chet's grandma passed away. She was such an amazing Christian lady... Her funeral was so beautiful and such a joyful tribute to her life. What things are more worthwhile than to love the Lord, love your family and love others. I am so thankful that I married into such a wonderful, loving family.

Chet and I get to go to Florida in a few weeks for spring break! Yay! Only a few more weeks of crazy life and then we can spend some quality time on a beach in Florida. Neither one of us has been there so we are planning on enjoying every minute of it. We will post pictures when we get back!

As for other things in life, I probably will be posting more. I decided to give up spending time on Facebook for Lent as it tends to suck away quite a bit of time! It is an excellent procrastination tool so it will probably be good to give up... more time for time with God and for school work.

I'd best go to bed for another long day ahead. I'll update more soon... with pictures!